Method of making a bladed rotor member for a fluid flow machine



April 14, 1970 J. PALFREYMAN 3,505,717

METHOD OF MAKING A BLADED ROTOR MEMBER FOR A FLUID FLOW MACHINE Filed Dec. 19, 1966 I It Z United States Patent Ofice 3,505,717 Patented Apr. 14, 1970 US. Cl. 29-1563 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method of making a bladed rotor member of a gas turbine engine in which coated fibres are employed in the formation of both the blades and the hub portion of the rotor member. The blades and hub portion together form an integral structure, the hub portion being sandwiched between axially spaced metal discs which are secured to the hub portion.

This invention concerns a method of making a bladed rotor member of a gas turbine engine, and, although it is not so restricted, it is more particularly concerned with a method of making a rotor member of a gas turbine engine compressor.

The invention relates to an improvement in or modification of the invention set forth in the commonly assigned co-pending US. application of Jack Palfreyman and Norman Willie Shepherd, Ser. No. 424,658, filed Jan. 11, 1965, and now U.S. Patent No. 3,456,917, issued July 22, 1969.

According to the present invention, there is provided a method of making a bladed rotor member of a gas turbine engine, comprising coating a plurality of fibres, employing said coated fibres in the formation of both the blades and a hub portion of the rotor member, the blades and hub portion together forming an integral structure, and sandwiching the hub portion between axially spaced metal discs which are secured to the hub portion.

Preferably, the metal discs are bonded to the rotor member by synthetic resin material. Additionally, the metal discs may be secured to the hub portion by bolts, rivets or the like.

The rotor member may be formed of a plurality of bundles of said fibres, opposite ends of each said bundle being used in the formation of different blades, and the central part of each bundle being used in the formation of the hub portion. Thus, the central part of each bundle may be divided into two spaced portions.

The spaced portions of each bundle may extend from a common blade to two dilferent blades.

Preferably the spaced portions of the various bundles are interwoven with each other.

The fibres may be of inorganic material. Each fibre may be individually coated with a metal or alloy. Alternatively, each fibre may be individually coated with a synthetic resin material.

The rotor member may be a rotor disc. Thus a plurality of said rotor discs may be produced, the metal discs of each said rotor disc being welded to casing members which form part of a gas turbine engine rotor drum.

The invention also comprises a bladed rotor member of a gas turbine engine e.g. that of a compressor thereof, when made by the method set forth above.

The invention is illustrated, merely by way of example, in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic view, partly in section, of a gas turbine engine having a compressor made by the method of the present invention,

FIGURE 2 is a broken away sectional view of the compressor shown in FIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatic view showing the manner in which metal coated fibres are employed to form the blades and discs of the rotor of the said compressor.

In FIGURE 1 there. is shown a gas turbine engine 10 having an engine casing 11 in which there are mounted in fiow series a compressor 12, combustion equipment 13, and a turbine 14, the turbine exhaust equipment 13, to atmosphere through an exhaust duct 15.

The compressor 12 and turbine 14 are mounted on common shafting 16 (FIGURE 2) one portion of which forms part of a rotor drum 17 of the compressor 12. The shafting 16 is mounted in a bearing 20 which is supported from the engine casing 11 by a plurality of angularly spaced apart struts 21.

The compressor 12 has two axially spaced rotor discs 22 each of which is provided with a plurality of angularly spaced apart blades 23. The rotor discs 22, together withtheir blades 23, are formed of individually coated fibres 24, eg silica fibres which have been coated with aluminum or with an epoxy, or polymide or polyimidazole, or polyquinoxaline or polythiazole resin.

Alternatively, the fibres may be formed from a ceramic constituted by an oxide, nitride or carbide. The fibres may, moreover, be formed of silicon nitride or silicon carbide, or from sapphire or silica. The fibres may be coated with silver, or nickel, or iron or an alloy, thereof. Moreover, the fibres may be graphite or boron fibres coated with a synthetic resin (e.g. an epoxy or polyimide resin) or with a metal such, for example, as silver, nickel, platinum or colurnbium.

Alternatively the rotor discs 22 and their blades 23 may be formed of a synthetic resin material, such for example as an epoxy or a high temperature polyimide resin, reinforced by any of the said coated fibres.

As shown in FIGURE 3 each of the rotor discs 22, together with its blades 23, are formed of a plurality of bundles of the said fibres 24. Opposite ends of each said bundle are used in the formation of different blades 23, the central part of each bundle being divided into two spaced portions 26, 27 which are used in the formation of the hub portions 30 of the rotor discs 22.

The spaced portions 26, 27 of each said bundle are flattened and extend from a common blade 23a to two different blades 23b, 230. Each of the portions 26, 27 is interwoven with other such portions.

After the fibres have been arranged as shown in FIG- URE 3, they are hot pressed together to form, in the case of aluminum coated silica fibres, an aluminum mass reinforced by silicon fibres, the said mass having blades 23 formed integrally with the hub portion 30.

The hub portion 30 of each of the rotor discs 22 is then sandwiched between axially spaced metal discs 31, 32 to which it is secured by a high temperature epoxy or polyimide resin and also, if desired, by rivets (not shown). The metal discs 31, 32 are welded to casing members 33, 34, 35 which are secured to the shafting 16 and form part of the rotor drum 17.

I claim:

1. A method of making a bladed rotor member for a gas turbine engine, said rotor member being an integral structural unit comprising a hub portion, a plurality of blades integral with said hub portion and a plurality of bundles of individually coated fibers embedded both in said hub portion and in said respective blades, said hub portion being sandwiched between axially spaced metal discs, said method comprising the steps of: individually coating a plurality of fibers, forming said fibers into a plurality of bundles, forming said bundles into an integral rotor having said plurality of blades integral with said hub portion, sandwiching said hub portion of said integral structural unit between axially spaced metal disQS, an 12,857,094" 1Q/1.9.. 8 W n.. 230-134 fixedly securing said metal discs to said hub portion of 2,868,439 1/1959 Hampshire 230134 X said integral structural unit. 2,916,256 12/ 1959 Wel'ch 25 3-39 2. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which the secur- 2,918,252 12/ 1959 Haworth. ing of the metal discs to the hub portion is accomplished 5 2,950,083 8/1960 Compton ct a1. 156180 X by bonding the hub portion to the metal discs with a syn- 2,958,505 11/ 1960 Frank 29l56.8 X thetic resin material. 3,011,760 12/1961 Eckert 29l56.8 X 3. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which the secur- 3,021,246 2/1962 Hlllltel 6t 8 6296 X ing of the metal disc to the hub portion is accomplished 3,051,437 8/1962 Morley et a1. 253'39 by fixedly attaching the metal discs to the hub portion 10 3,403,844 10/1968 Stolfer 230-134 with at least one securing member.

CHARLIE T. MOON, Primary Examiner References C'ted H D. C. REILEY, Assistant Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,618,462 11/1952 Kane 253 77 x 15 2,844,354 7/1958 Warnken. 29419; 156l80, 296; 170l59; 230-134; 253-77 

